Science! Indians say nanotechnology may eradicate mosquitoes

You probably know that a common mosquito-control action advised by public health experts is to empty water containers around your yard to help limit mosquito activity. This is because certain kinds of mosquitoes — permanent water mosquitoes, as opposed to floodwater mosquitoes — like to lay their eggs in stagnant water. If the water evaporates before the eggs hatch and the larvae complete their life cycle, they die.

Hooray.

One of the most common permanent water mosquitoes is the southern house mosquito, known scientifically as Culex quinquefasciatus, which is a carrier of St. Louis Encephalitis and West Nile Virus.

Oh how I hate thee, Culex quinquefasciatus. (Galveston County)

Now scientists in India have made an interesting and potentially helpful observation.

The scientists were trying to take various images of zebrafish, so they had treated mosquitoes with tiny carbon nanoparticles that could dissolve in water. These particles, once consumed by the fish after they ate mosquitoes, helped illuminate the insides of the fish.

But what the scientists noticed, instead, is that even at small concentrations the nanoparticles blocked the eggs laid by the treated mosquitoes from developing (see abstract). The nanoparticles, made by burning wood wool in a reduced oxygen environment, washing them and then treating them with nitric acid, would be relatively cheap to mass produce.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Releasing tiny, reproductive-blocking nanomaterials into the environment — what could possibly go wrong?

It is true there are definitely environmental concerns when it comes to nanotechnology. And scientists are going to have to study the safety of widely distributing these nanoparticles into the environment.

Nevertheless the scientists say, at first blush, these particles appear to be non-toxic to the environment. Unless you’re a mosquito larvae.